Fabric-gripper



J. D. KARLE FABRIC GRIPPER June 4, 1935.

Filed July 28, 193s OOO fohn; [farle Patented June 4, 1935 UNITED STATES FABRIC- GRIPPER John D. Karle, Roselle Park, N. J., assigner to The Singer Manufacturing.V Company, Elizabeth, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application July 28, 1933,

14 Claims.

This invention relates to fabric-grippers of the type customarily attached to a work-table or other suitable support and used by seamstresses for holding a piece of fabric, a garment or the 5 like, to enable the seamstress to exert a light tension onv the fabric with one hand, While the other hand is free to manipulate a sewing needle, a

seam-ripping knife or other implement which it may be desired to use in working upon the fabric or garment.

The invention has for an object to provide a fabricgripper of simplied, improved and inexpensive construction which may be readily applied to or removed from a table, sewing machine bed or other suitable support, without in any Way marring its support, and to which the fabric may be -quickly and easily secured without injury or distortion, and which will hold the fabric flat to facilitate the work to be done there- With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations, and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawing of a preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

vIn the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a fabric-gripper embodying the invention in its preferred form. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section'through the fabric-gripper. Fig. 3 is a side elevation' of the device showing its manner of yielding laterally to a tension on the work. Fig. 4 is a top plan View of the post and vacuum cup elements of the device. Fig. 5 is a disassembled perspective view of the post and chain elements of the device, and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the wedge element of the device.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated, I represents a soft rubber resilient suction or vacuum cup having a lower concave suction surface 2 which may be caused to securely adhere to a smooth surface 3, such as is presented by a sewing machine table or bed-plate 4, by merely being pressed down upon or flattened thereagainst.

Embedded in and rising centrally from the top of the cup I is the screw-threaded metal insert 5 which is screwed into the threaded metal sleeve or nut 6 embedded as an insert in the base of the post member 'I preferably of a relatively hard Serial No. 682,624

(Cl. 22S-54) molded material such as bakelite or hard rubber. Y

The post 'I is formed in its lower end face with a circular groove or recess 8, Fig. 5, surrounding the threaded sleeve for reception of one end ring E of an anchor 'chain I9, of well known bead-chain construction', leading out through 'the lateral groove 8" in the base of the post 1 and having connected to its free end a ring 'II linked with the hole I2 in the flat memberV I3 which is preferably serrated or roughened on its opposite faces at I3 and is adapted to be removably received in the slot I4 formed in' the upper end of the post l diametrically of the flat upper end faceV I5 of said post. vThe member I 3 is preferably tapered slightly or reduced in thickness from itsupper end I6 to 'its rounded lower end I'I to form a Wedge and ispreferably made of half-hard rubber-s04 that it willr fric. tionally grip a wall of the slot I4 as well as the fabric to be held. f

To luse 'the devce,v'theseamstress merely inserts an edge-of thefabric J in the slot I4. lThe wedge member I3 is then inserted in' the slot I4 and pressed down into gripping relation withk A the fabridthe down pressure acting to flatten the vacuum cup I and cause it to firmly adhere te its supporting surface 3. The seamstress may now, with one han'dVexerta light. tension on the fabric, transversely of the seam s, while manipulating a seam-rippingblade, or other implement with the other: hand. Thexwedge I3 may be instantly withdrawn from the slot I4 to free the fabric which may be shifted along the slot to a new position' and the wedge replaced for continuation, say, of a seam-ripping operation.

The fabric lays flat and vundistorted across the flat upper end face I5 of the post 1 at one side of the slot I4. This is highly desirable in distributing the strain evenly over a maximum area of the fabric. It will be observed that the post l yields laterally to the strain' on the fabric and. makes it easier for the operator to apply a uniform tension to the fabric with the tensioning hand. Should the seamstress unconsciously ease up on the applied tension, the post 'I will, in its recovery motion' toward its unstrained vertical position, take up the slack in the fabric and prevent its becoming loose. A certain amount of movement of the operators tensioning hand is thus permissible without loosening or unduly straining the fabric. This is found to be particularly desirable in a fabric holder of the class described. The thickness of the Wedge I3 and the Width of the slot I4 are selected to accommodate fabrics of various thicknesses. It is observed that the freely resilient tilting action of the post in tensioning the fabric in the manner described is attained by so relatively arranging and proportioning the parts that the gripped fabric is supported at a distance above the base of the post greater than the lateral distance in the direction from which 'the tension is applied from the central vertical axis of the post to the point at which the fabric is gripped.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein isz- 1. The combination with a resilient suction cup, of a post rising from the top of said cup and formed in its upper end with a slot, and a Wedge member adapted to enter said slot.

2. A fabric-gripper comprising a post having a slot in its upper end, resilient supporting means joined to the baseV of said post and having a concave under suction surface, and means for wedging a piece of fabric in said slot.

3. A fabric-gripper comprising a slotted post, a resilient suction cup secured to one end of said post, and a wedge member removably received in the slot in said post.

4. A fabric-gripper comprising a post, a resilient suction cup secured to one end of said post, a fabric-gripping wedge member removably cooperating with the other end of said post to grip a fabric, and means for anchoring said member to said post.

5. A fabric-gripper comprising a soft rubber suction cup, a post detachably connected to said cup, an anchor chain detachably secured to said post by the connection between said cup and post, and means secured to said anchor chain and cooperating with said post to grip a piece of fabric.

6. A fabric-gripper comprising a soft rubber suction cup, a post, screw-threaded means for securing said post to said cup, a ring embracing said screw-threaded means, a fabric-gripping member removably cooperating with said post, and means for anchoring said member to said ring.

' 7. A fabric-gripper comprising a soft rubber suction cup, a post having a circular groove in one end and a slot in its opposite end, screwthreaded means encircled by said groove for securing said post to said cup, a ring disposed in said groove, a chain secured at one end to said ring, and a wedge secured to the other end of said chain and adapted for reception in said slot.

8. A fabric-gripper comprising a resilient base, a post rising from said base and formed with a slot open at the upper end and along opposite sides of said post, and a flat member adapted to removably wedge a piece of fabric in said slot.

9. A fabric-gripper comprising a resilient suction cup, a post rising from the top of said cup and having a flat surfaced upper end, said post being formed with a slot extending downwardly from said fiat surfaced upper end, and removable means for wedging a piece of fabric in said slot.

10. A fabric-gripper comprising a soft rubber suction cup having a lower concave suction face, a slotted post, screw-threaded means for detachably securing said post to said cup, fabricgripping means removably received in the slot in said post, and anchoring means connected to said fabric-gripping means and detachably embracing said screw-threaded means.

11. A fabric-gripper comprising a soft rubber suction cup having a concave under suction face, a post of relatively hard material joined at its lower end to the top of said cup, said post being formed with ayslot, and a fabric-gripping member removably received in said slot.

12. The combination with a resilient suction cup, of a post rising substantially vertically from the top of said cup and resiliently tiltable relative to the latter, and means on said post for gripping a portion of fabric in a substantially vertical plane.

13. The combination with a resilient suction cup, of a post rising from the top of said cup, and means cooperating with said post to grip a fabric, said means and post having an intertting tongue and slot connection having a Wedge-gripping action on the fabric.

14. A fabric-gripper comprising a resilient suction cup, a post rising from said cup, and means on said post for releasably gripping a fabricv and supporting such fabric at an elevation above the base of said post greater than the lateral distance from the axis of said post to the point at which the fabric is gripped, whereby the post is freely tiltable resiliently by a pull on the gripped fabric.

JOHN D. KARLE. 

